Summary: Mr X complained about the way the Council dealt with his and his wife's application for council housing. The Council was at fault as it delayed assessing his application and there were administrative errors and poor communication in the way it dealt with his and his wife's medical assessment and application. The Council also failed to explain why it awarded the level of priority it did to this application. The Council has already revised its procedure for dealing with medical assessments. It should provide evidence of this, and how this will address the problems identified, to the Ombudsman. The Council has already apologised to Mr X. It has agreed to pay him £250 to acknowledge the time and trouble and frustration Mr and Mrs X were put to by the Council's faults.

Summary: The Council removed Mr B from its housing register in accordance with its housing allocations scheme. The officer who decided the case also completed the review, which is wrong. However, because of Mr B's complaint the Council has later reviewed the decision and still upholds it. I see no benefit in seeking further review. The Council will apologise for its error, and for directing Mr B to the wrong Ombudsman. The errors caused him doubt, time and trouble.

Summary: Miss X complains about the Council's response to disrepair in her private rented house and then in how it managed her homelessness application and its housing duty after her landlord evicted her. The Ombudsman find the Council acted properly in dealing with Miss X's concerns about her private rented property however aspects of how it handled her homelessness were fault. In particular, it placed her in temporary accommodation that had several safety defects. This caused Miss X an injustice, although the evidence suggests she may have contributed to the length of time finding alternative accommodation took. The Council has agreed with the Ombudsman's recommendation to apologise and pay a financial remedy to Miss X.

Summary: Miss C complains that the Council has not helped her move out of her current property since she has been the victim of harassment and racist abuse. Miss C also complains the Council has unreasonably restricted her contact. The Council's handling of the issues reported by Miss C was not affected by fault. Also, the Council's decision to restrict her contact was in line with the Council's policy.

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council's failure to include his elderly mother in his application to join the housing register. He says this has affected the well-being of his family as they are overcrowded. The Ombudsman has found the Council to be at fault because it did not consider Mr X's application properly and in good time. To remedy this the Council has agreed to apologise, reconsider his application, make a time and trouble payment and review its practices.

Summary: Mrs C complains about the way the Council dealt with her daughter's housing transfer request and says she had to provide extra care and assistance for her daughter in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary. The Ombudsman found fault by the Council but is satisfied the agreed actions of an apology and payment of £750 provide a suitable remedy.

Summary: Miss X complains about the way the Council considered her housing applications and request for priority. There was delay in the Council processing Miss X's housing application. There is also fault as the Council failed to give reasons for decisions on Miss X's housing application or provide the names and positions of officers reaching those decisions. The Council also failed to identify it had already received medical evidence from Miss X entitling her to a higher band. The Council should backdate Miss X's priority band and pay her £250 for the time and trouble and uncertainty caused. The Council should also take action to ensure it sets out reasons for its decisions in future.

Summary: Miss B complained about the treatment of her housing application. We do not find fault causing Miss B injustice with the Council's decision that Miss B refused two suitable housing offers so it should cancel her application. The Council was at fault later for expecting Miss B to get an occupational therapist's assessment that the Council considered necessary. That fault caused Miss B avoidable uncertainty, time and trouble. The Council agreed our recommendations to apologise, pay Miss B £150 and change its procedures as necessary.

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